Helmet Bowl II moved quicker and demanded victory every single week! The single-elimination Conference contests lead immediately into the single-elimination National Championship bracket.

Lose just once and go home.

Execute or be executed.

While half the teams ended each round in defeat and elimination, voting for Helmet Bowl II grew throughout the contest and far exceeded the hundreds of thousands of votes cast in Helmet Bowl I. Thank you voters!

We are already working on making Helmet Bowl III the Greatest College Football Helmet Contest Ever. (You can help – here's the link to our survey [open until Jan. 30, 2019]: https://www.surveymonkey.com/r/V2J5F6K)

Thank You Equipment Managers

Thank you to the Equipment Managers for making Helmet Bowl
known and drumming up support and votes. Without you there’d be no Helmet Bowl.
Without you there’d be no helmets to enter our contest. Can you imagine simply
taking a white or black helmet out of the box, fitting it, and sending it out
onto the field? Ugh. We know the players gotta play, but nothing says they
can’t look good doing it!

Conference Play

We changed up the conference play for Helmet Bowl II. In the
inaugural Helmet Bowl, we pit every helmet in each conference against each
other in a conference free-for-all that awarded points to winners of each of
the 10-week contests. The team with the most points after the grueling 2 ½
month contest won the Conference.

When we surveyed voters about Helmet Bowl I, they told us the
Conference play should be shorter. We found a way to speed things up – jump in
right away with head-to-head single-elimination contests. Win three or four
weeks in a row, and win the Conference Championship.

Norte Dame once again fails to show up in the Independent contest, this time falling to the Thomas More Saints. With such an iconic helmet, the Fighting Irish should make a better showing in Helmet Bowl III.

Each
week brought great match-ups and some surprises. Who did you think had a lock
on a Conference Championship but failed to equal expectations?

Thank You Sports Information Directors

We’ve added to your already full plate during the busy
football season. Thank you Sports Information Directors and Communications
staff! Getting the word out about your helmet and its place in Helmet Bowl is
vital to your success in Helmet Bowl – or not!

When Gallaudet won Helmet Bowl I, all eyes turned to Sam Atkinson, Associate Athletic Director for Communications. When the Dickinson Red Devils started making a play to win Helmet Bowl II, we were immediately directed to Christian Payne, Assistant Athletic Director, Media & Administration.

We
know much more happens in the SID and Communications offices than we will ever
know. Thank you for including Helmet Bowl in your efforts! We appreciate you.

Surprises

The Maine Black Bears won the Colonial Athletic Association and tallied WAY more votes than any other Conference Champion. Their great helmet – black shell with white and light blue stripes down the middle and a roaring bear head on the side – would do well in the National Championship – making it to the semi-finals before falling to the eventual champion Dickinson Red Devils.

Thank You Coaches and Staff

Xs and Os, field prep, communications gear, staff relations,
player care, football strategy, media contact, travel, referees, fans, alumni,
administration—the list goes on and on. We know football coaches have to have
their hands into everything that matters to them and lots that they are told
matter to them! Thank you for including Helmet Bowl in what impacts your locker
room.

You have staffs and personal and players and so much more to
keep track of and whether you simply said, “Yes” to someone there who wanted to
pursue Helmet Bowl success, or took it and ran with it yourself, we thank you!

We know that the development of your players and the score on the scoreboards matter most, so thank you for adding Helmet Bowl to that list of “other stuff.”

Next week: Helmet Bowl II Recap, Part II – We take a look at the National Championship.

Helmet Bowl II began with nearly 800 helmets from every college, every conference, every division. No glib guys in a television studio decided who participated. We put everyone in!

Then, you voted. You voted hundreds of thousands of times.
You decided the best helmet in each conference. You decided which helmets
deserved to participate in the National Championship bracket of 64.

And now, you and your votes have decided the top two college football helmets and you and your votes over the next few days will determine the Helmet Bowl II National Champion.

Thank you.

Here’s how they each got here.

Dickinson Red Devils

Another DIII school competes for the Championship. Last year Gallaudet University came out of nowhere with a fine helmet to win Helmet Bowl I. This year, Dickinson submitted this stunning and attractive helmet and it caught the attention of helmet afficiandos immediately. But would they gather the votes? No question.

How’d they do it? If they have a secret weapon, it’s Robyn
Porter.

“I’m the biggest cheerleader for the team,” she says.

Porter’s son, Jack, a sophomore, plays receiver for the Red Devils. The parent group has been active in supporting the team—making sure the players and coaches are well fed after every game, providing encouragement—you know, the normal sports-parents thing.

Recruiting Tool: Parents

But this is not normal. Not at Dickinson.

Robyn Porter with Bryce Baylor (#22), and her son Jack (#18) at the Dickinson rivalry game, 2018.

“The parents group is one of the things that really drew our attention to Dickinson,” Robyn says. “One of the things we really admired about the football program was the parent involvement – and their dedication and dedication to the football team.”

Parents as a recruiting tool? Yup.

Robyn and others want to add something else to that recruiting
toolbox: A National Championship.

“The parent group got behind the voting thing as a way to
contribute to the whole program,” Robyn says. “Another Mom posted something on
Facebook early in the Conference contests and it caught our attention.

Helmet Bowl Excitment

“Then we did well and continued to do well and it built
excitement,” she said. “We don’t do anything half-heartedly.”

Robyn sends emails (which she declined to share with Helmet
Tracker “We are uncomfortable sharing the emails.”), posts on Twitter and
Facebook, and shoots texts to the football team members’ parents, families, and
any fans she can find.

Players, Parents, Alumni

“The players are aware of it, for sure. At first it was, ‘What
are you doing, Mom?’ But now they are feeling the energy.”

She shares the vanguard with other football Moms and points
out that Dickinson includes Helmet Bowl information in its daily newsletter and
on social media.

“Weirdly and wonderfully I’ve found several Dickinson graduates and the alumni are getting into it, too,” Robyn says. “People are really motivated!”

Championship Talk

We ask him about being in the championship and he sounds like he’s taken that graduate course in talking to the media – you know, the one-game-at-a-time, all-credit-to-those-guys-in-the-other-locker-room, we-just-focus-on-giving-it-our-best stuff.

“We are just happy to be here” he says, then hesitates. “Yes,
we want to win.”

When the equipment team plugged into Helmet Bowl a year ago, it was late in the contest and probably too late to make a play at winning, Anthony said. But this year, at the AEMA Convention in Phoenix, the team talked about it and made a decision. A decision that has paid off.

“Let’s do it this year and try to be successful” the team agreed. The Hurricane ran through the conference, then were entered into the National bracket of 64.

Conference Confidence

“The conference tournament gave us a lot of confidence,” Anthony said. “We were a bit unsure at first, then we started winning by such high margins we thought maybe we can win this thing.”

Indeed.

Any secrets to the success? Anthony spreads the honors
around.

“Lots of people have helped to promote it—the coaches, the
players, and the entire Hurricane Nation!

“To be successful, you’ve got to get people to vote every day.
Consistency is the key,” he said.

He and the Equipment team, the football team, and others get
the word out daily. The families of the football players, friends, and fans
participate.

“People think Tulsa s a small place, but it’s not – there’s over
1 million people in the county.”

That black Tulsa helmet

And, that black helmet with the hurricane warning flags, wow! The Equipment team has been advocating for the helmet to be added to the traditional gold dome with the cursive Tulsa on the side, and its white counterpart, but it took about three years before it was introduced this past season.

“The players love it, they freaked out. It got good fan
reaction, too,” Anthony said. “We have to thank Kyle Grooms, Director of
Football Operations, all the coaches, and Sam Lazarus, Digital Marketing
Director, who took the helmet photo.”

Championship in Sight

So, a few days left. Runner up or Champion?

“It’s all on the line right now. Not only are all the
students on vacation, but the athletic department is in and out. We can still
text and shoot messages online.”

“A National Championship it will mean a lot for the
university, and additionally gives the equipment staff some props. We are getting
the word out about Tulsa.

“We’ve got a little left in the tank,” he says. “I think we’ve got a shot at it.”

Helmet Bowl added Muskies, Olfs, Flames, Rattlers, Hatters, and Fighting Saints to the list of Conference Champions for the first time.

Pitt won the ACC by TWO votes!

Texas Permian Basin Falcons won the Lone Star Conference by ONE VOTE!

And, we discovered late Monday we have a TIE! In the Northern Sun Intercollegiate Conference the Upper Iowa Peacocks TIED with the Minnesota State Moorhead Dragons – both GREAT helmets – but only one can qualify for the Helmet Bowl National Championship.

This, and the playoff for the Mid-South Conference (which had too many teams for our 16-team brackets) will be announced soon.

Later this week, seeding for the Helmet Bowl II National Championship bracket will be revealed and you will be able to fill out your predictive brackets at Helmet Bowl.

The 64 Conference Champions with the most total votes qualify for the National Championships.

The National Championship bracket launches Monday, November 26 at 3 pm CST.

Thanksgiving

At Helmet Tracker, we are thankful for family who support our business and the fun of Helmet Bowl.

We are also thankful for college football Equipment Managers and their efforts to supply Helmet Bowl with the best images of their team's helmet.

We also give thanks for you, the voters in Helmet Bowl. You increased voting in the Helmet Bowl Conference play by more than 5 times the number of votes as last year!

Thank you!

Numbers

You DO NOT want to meet these teams in the National Championship bracket.

One team far outranked others in terms of total votes through the four rounds of the Conference play – the Maine Black Bears.

Other teams nearly within shouting distance:

Iowa State Cyclones

Dickinson Red Devils

Florida International Golden Panthers

We will see some tough regional matchups, some impossible choices, and some great contests in the National bracket.

Conference Champions Repeat

Just 12 teams repeated their Helmet Bowl I Conference Championship. Congratulations to these back-to-back winners!

Welcome to Helmet Bowl II – the Greatest College Football Helmet Contest Ever.

A year ago we gathered 777 college football helmets and put them into the first Helmet Bowl. Tens of thousands of votes determined Conference Championships. In the 64-team National Championship Bracket, hundreds of thousands of votes lead to a showdown between DI San Diego State and DIII Gallaudet University. A stunning come-from-behind national effort saw the Bison win the inaugural Helmet Bowl trophy.

The Gallaudet Bison, Helmet Bowl I National Champion football helmet.

This year will be even better! Equipment Managers, Sports Information Directors, football players and coaches, students, alumni, and fans are poised to push their team forward to a Conference Championship into the National Championship bracket, then to the Helmet Bowl II Championship.

Rules Update

We updated the rules for Helmet Bowl II. Significant changes include:

a compact, more powerful Conference play period

Conference Championship brackets for every Conference

This means you have to be on your game right from the get-go. Fans will have just two weeks to ensure their team qualifies for the Conference Championship Brackets.

We consulted with Equipment Managers who had success in Helmet Bowl I, held polls, and talked with many of you at the Athletic Equipment Managers Association convention in Phoenix. From your input and a careful look at engagement and enthusiasm from the inaugural Helmet Bowl, changes were determined.